Almanac Cricket: The West Indies and the forlorn hope

 

 

The West Indies is a series of 13 independent island countries and other South American territories. Surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, the islands are unique, but the populations are culturally related.

 

From the 1600s onwards, the French, English and Dutch governments colonised vast areas and countries, and those countries fought wars against Spain and Portugal for control over the West Indies.

 

Following the Sugar Revolution in the 17th century, thousands of African slaves were transported to the islands to grow and crush cane. Without the means to leave, many African slaves were forced to stay on the island or in the territory where they had been deposited.

 

England remained a steady influence through the 17th and 19th centuries, and merchants made millions from sugar and the slave trade. The English, as they have done through the millennia, also transported their culture to the islands.

 

By the late 1890s, cricket was the most popular sport in the British colonies, and a combined West Indies team played against available English cricketers. The West Indies Cricket Board of Control was formed in the 1920s, and the unified team was given Test status.

 

It took almost eight years before England hosted the West Indies. On June 23 1928, the West Indies played their first Test, at Lords, and lost by an innings and 58 runs. They lost their second Test by an innings and 30 runs, and the third by an innings and 71 runs.

 

Two years later, the West Indies won their first Test against England in Georgetown by 289 runs. George Headley scored centuries in both innings, and Baron Constantine took nine wickets for the match.

 

Australia played its first Test against the West Indies in Adelaide in 1930, and won by ten wickets. Australia won the second Test by an innings and 172 runs, the third by an innings and 217 runs and the fourth by an innings and 122 runs.

 

The West Indies won the fifth Test by 30 runs – their first win, coming against an Australian team that featured Bill Woodfull, Bill Ponsford, Don Bradman, Stan McCabe and Clarrie Grimmett.

 

Victories, at that point for the West Indies, were rare. They wouldn’t win their first Test series against Australia until 1965.

 

 

1979 – they’re not sure just what we have in store (Smashing Pumpkins)

 

As a kid, I had no idea about those island nations. I thought the West Indies cricket team represented a single country, and not a group of widely distributed islands and land-based countries.

 

When I learned the difficulties their cricket team faced – political and geographical – my admiration for the men from the Caribbean grew. They were plucked from those islands and territories to represent one team – a joining – filled with political and territorial riffs.

 

Much anticipation awaited the arrival of the West Indies in Australia for the 1975-1976 series. They team had already won the ODI World Cup and thrashed England in a Test series. Their six-Test tour of Australia was billed as a battle of the world’s best, and to decide the unofficial world champions.

 

The series didn’t live up to the hype. The West Indies were thrashed 5-1, battered and destroyed by Lillee and Thompson. Clive Lloyd, the West Indian captain, harboured a grudge at the capitulation. When they returned in 1978-79 to play three Tests, they would exact revenge with a 2-0 series win – their first series win on Australian soil, and just their second series win against the Aussies.

 

During that series, the West Indies forced Ian Chappell to retire again. Australian bats had no answer to the page barrage – Lloyd had learned the lessons – and their batters, including Viv Richards, Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes would not yield to the pace of Hogg or Lillee. Richards scored 396 Test runs at an average of 96.5.

 

The series was the first time the West Indies played the original fearsome foursome – Roberts, Holding, Garner and Croft.

 

The West Indies didn’t lose a Test series for fifteen years.

 

 

 

 

Random memories of the great West Indies era – 1979 to 1995.

 

Lloyd rejecting spinners in favour of pace, with devastating impact. Hogg hitting Richards on the chin with a bouncer at the MCG. Richards smirking as though he wasn’t hurt, and hooking the next ball for six. Clive Lloyd getting hit in the head by a bouncer, and defiantly batting on. The majesty of Holding’s merciless bowling, and his nickname – whispering death bestowed by umpire Dickie Bird. Imagine waiting for whispering death…

 

Garner’s unplayable yorkers. Kim Hughes getting hit twice on the left foot in different matches by Garner’s yorkers in 1981-1982. Left immobile and unable to run during the Adelaide Test, Hughes bravely batted on with a foot that swelled so bad his shoe had to be cut open.

 

Courtney Walsh splitting Greg Ritchie’s cheek with a bouncer. At some point during the nineties, Walsh had hit more batsmen in the head than any other bowler in world cricket. Colin Croft hitting Rod Marsh with a bouncer, and the West Indian team crowding around him as Garner wiped away the blood, like he was a doctor. Marsh batting on, until overcome by blurred vision and retiring hurt. Larry Gomes, without a helmet, steadfast against the pace barrage, unmoved by the bouncers from Lillee, Lawson and Hogg.

 

Bruce Yardley’s bravado, fighting fire with fire with the bat and ball, and throwing the ball back to Garner with a rueful expression after being yorked.

 

Richards’s invincibility. His swagger, his dare and the bludgeoning way he destroyed our attack. His 146 in Perth, hitting boundaries without mercy and Tim May smirking in surrender.

 

Australia bowled out for 114, as Patterson took 5/39. Marshall, a short man with unnerving pace and accuracy bowling the West Indies to victory with five last-day wickets on a flat Sydney pitch. Roberts with his two bouncers, one that could be hit, and the other that hit. Ambrose breaking Geoff Lawson’s jaw, and Richards berating his fast bowlers on the field for their concern. Then the fast-bowling quartet heading to hospital after play to check on Lawson. Australia losing in Adelaide by one run, and shattering a nation. Ambrose taking 7-1 in 42 balls in Perth to seal a series victory.

 

Greenidge and Haynes, with so many not-outs against their names, because the West Indies usually needed less than 50 to win a Test. Greenidge’s 104 at the Adelaide Oval to ensure the Test ended in a draw.

 

The Windies magnificent fielding, setting the benchmark and backing up their bowlers.

 

The Australians dropping five catches on the first day of the Perth Test in 1983-1984. Kepler Wessells so worried about edging to slip that he allowed a straight one from Garner to cannon into his stumps. Jeffrey Dujon retiring hurt after being hit on the head (no helmet) by Terry Alderman. When Dujon returned to the crease, he smacked 139 runs. The West Indies having played 27 Tests without defeat as they headed into the New Year’s Test in Sydney in 1984.

 

The emergence of Lara, with 277 in Sydney, and Holding as commentator declaring the team would not lose another match on tour, and they didn’t. In that same series, Mark Waugh getting run out five times. In another series, Waugh, stuck on 20 more than an hour and unable to score, raised his bat to the crowd in jest after eking out a single. He was out shortly after, caught from an errant drive.

 

In 1991, Australia’s bowlers apparently went on a bender after bowling the West Indies out for 149. The bowlers, watched hungover the following morning as the West Indies bowled Australia out for 134. Then Greenidge, at 40, hit 226 and the Windies won by 343 runs.

 

Richardson’s 182 in that same series to kill Australia.

 

The fast bowlers that seemed to run off a production line. Consider these names – Holding, Roberts, Garner, Croft, Marshall, Patterson, Ambrose, Walsh and Bishop.

 

David Gower describing a tour of the Caribbean as the worst three months of his life.

 

The ICC limiting bouncers to one per over per batsman to curb the intimidation. The ICC investigating lengthening the pitch to curb the dominance, and thankfully rejecting it. International teams complaining about the fearsome foursome. Holding’s unrepentant response – if you don’t like it, get out.

 

 

 

Lloyd’s mantra – kill the captain and the rest will follow. His bowlers backing up that mantra – every ball ever bowled had two purposes; wickets or fear of physical pain. Greg Chappell getting seven consecutive ducks during the 1981-1982 summer – kill the captain…

 

Australia getting bowled out for 76 in Perth. Kim Hughes quitting the captaincy in that same series – his last 18 Test innings were against the West Indies and his average dropped from 42 to 37. Kill the captain…

 

Alan Border, after being dismissed for two ducks at the WACA and losing the Test series in 1992-1993 declaring that he wouldn’t play the West Indies again. ‘I think I’ve had enough,’ Border said. Kill the captain…

 

The dominance, the demolition, the bullying and the brutality. Extinguishing hope. When making 300 in a Test against the Windies seemed like victory. When bowling the West Indies out for less than 300 seemed like victory. But knowing, always, that those destructive men would not accept humiliation, and the comeback was as close as an over away.

 

There was no expectation when we played the West Indies. The only hope was to be competitive, and maybe win a Test.

 

The West Indies exuded fear. Batsmen trembled while waiting for the next delivery, thinking about blood on the pitch. Their bowlers blasted batsmen out. Marshall asking David Boon on debut if he was going to get out. ‘Otherwise I’ll come around the wicket and kill you,’ Marshall said.

 

Their batsmen were cavalier in attitude, Calypso Cricket, destroying the world’s bowlers with intimidation and runs. Richards, Gomes and Richardson didn’t consider helmets necessary. Richards wore a cap or white floppy hat.  Richardson, built of the same unmalleable steel, wore a one-man floppy tent as his hat.  Gomes chose to bat in his afro, safety enough.

 

Richardson is the last man in Test cricket who refused the helmet, a throwback, like the best Windies batsmen, to an era where confidence outworked the threat of danger.

 

Courtney Walsh facing six balls without getting out to draw a Test at the Gabba. The Windies always finding a way to win. Relentless and unbeatable. They never lost a Test at the WACA until 2000-2001.

 

The Frank Worrell Trophy, held aloft by Lloyd after the 1984-1985 series then went missing for about 20 years, before it was found in storage in a garage.

 

Despite the bully attitude, they played some of the best cricket I’ve ever seen. I used to love watching the West Indies play. They were the only team in international cricket I could handle losing to, because there was no answer to their might, and they were so damn good to watch.

 

The West Indies, during their period of dominance, was loved and adored by Australian cricket fans. Former players who were brutalised by the West Indies at their peak spoke fondly of the men from the Caribbean. They were the team all cricketing nations wanted to play like, and desperately wanted to beat.

 

It seemed a fantasy to expect victory.

 

Then it happened. In 1995, the Windies dominance ended. Australia won a Caribbean tour by using that same bully attitude against the West Indies. Richardson, in an interview after the series, derided the victors. ‘I think this is the weakest Australian team I’ve played against,’ he said.

 

Richardson was wrong.

 

 

 

The everlasting decline

 

Age was an indication during Australia’s 1991 tour of the Caribbean that the production line was faltering. Greenidge was 40, Richards 39. Undoubtedly great players, but I thought at the time that although they deserved their place in the side, it was worrying that no one was pushing them out.

 

The introduction of Lara during their 1992-1993 tour of Australia, and the 2-1 series victory seemed to point to a prosperous future, but it was a ruse. When Ambrose, Bishop (through injury) and Walsh retired, the fast-bowling production line faltered.

 

Consider these bowlers: Fidel Edwards, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel, Mervyn Dillon, Corey Collymore, Jerome Taylor, Devendra Bishoo, Cameron Cuffey, Sulieman Benn and Alzarri Joseph.

 

All reasonable bowlers, but many with Test averages over 30. Roach is their only current player in the top ten of their best Test wicket takers, and he’s at number six with 253 wickets. Jason Holder is fifteenth on the list, with 143 Test wickets.

 

Shivnarine Chanderpaul made a mountain of Test runs, but Ken Arthurton, Phil Simmons and Carl Hooper promised a lot but ultimately couldn’t deliver. Consider these batters: Kraig Braithwaite, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Jimmy Adams, Jermaine Blackwood, Jason Holder (an all-rounder), Sharmah Brooks and Devon Thomas.

 

All capable batters, but aside from Adams, all with Test averages in the 30s. Braithwaite is their only current player in the top 25 of their best Test run scorers.

 

The Windies haven’t won a Test in Australia since 1996-1997, when they were somewhat competitive in a 3-2 series loss. In 1999 in the Caribbean, they drew the series 2-2, and in 2003, they won their last Test against Australia in a 3-1 series loss.

 

The last time the West Indies retained Frank Worrell was 1992-1993.

 

 

Ongoing sadness

 

The 2-0 thumping during their 2022 tour of Australia is testament to the West Indies status in Test cricket. They simply aren’t competitive. Their current generation of bowlers can’t find a line. Their batsmen can’t find technique. The Caribbean swagger has become a languid amble.

 

The Windies used to play tough, uncompromising cricket. Not anymore.

 

I have no idea how the malaise started. I’d love to fix it. Anecdotal evidence suggests cricket is no longer the premier sport in the Caribbean. Basketball, soccer and athletics are the lure.

 

Curtly Ambrose, one of the Windies greatest fast bowlers, has repeatedly confessed that he doesn’t like cricket. He doesn’t watch cricket. His first love was basketball, and he wanted to play professional basketball in America. It was his mother who begged him to play cricket, and at 21, he relented and played for a local Antiguan team. Four years later, he was representing the West Indies in Tests.

 

I’d love to see another West Indian fast bowler emerge from nowhere like that.

 

Recently, the West Indies Cricket Board commissioned a review of the team’s poor performance at the 2022 T20 World Cup. Brian Lara and Mickey Arthur are part of the panel. The review should be extended to the Test side, because international cricket needs the Windies to be strong.

 

Cricket aficionados have been waiting for the West Indies resurgence more than 20 years. It has been too long. If it was going to happen, it would have by now. Sadly, it is time to give up on the hope and the longing.

 

All we have left are those old memories of the West Indies dominance, when they were compelling viewing, loved, admired and dreaded.

 

Those old memories need to be replaced, but I fear they will never be.

 

 

 

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